Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez again

Tim Dahlberg THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published Saturday December 8, 2012 at 6:00 am

The fact they’re much bigger than when they first met eight years ago is undeniable. Both Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have added bulk along with the pounds, and both have had to deal with those who suspect they didn’t do it naturally.

Along with the fighters, the purses and attention have grown as Pacquiao and Marquez meet tonight for the fourth — and presumably last — time in the rivalry that has served both fighters so well.

Marquez will try again to do what he hasn’t been able to do in 36 evenly contested rounds against Pacquiao — get a decision from the ringside judges. At age 39, it’s a fight that may mean more to his legacy than his future career, which is why it’s a fight he seems almost desperate to win.

“All I ask is for the judges to be objective,” Marquez said. “They need to really see what is happening in the ring instead of what they think might be happening in the ring.”

Pacquiao is not as desperate, but he needs a win just as badly. He barely escaped with a majority decision over Marquez last November — a result that drew loud boos from the pro-Marquez crowd — and lost a widely panned decision to Timothy Bradley his last time out.

A loss to Marquez not only would confirm the whispers that he is slipping after 17 years as a pro, but perhaps derail for good any talk of a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. that would be boxing’s richest ever.

“I have always been focused, but not like this fight,” Pacquiao said. “There are no distractions in my mind. The family problems I had, I don’t have this time.”

Neither fighter holds a title as they meet in a welterweight fight that will make both even richer. Pacquiao is expected to make more than $20 million by the time the pay-per-view receipts are totaled, while promoter Bob Arum said Marquez could make as much as $6 million.

It’s a far cry from 2004, when Pacquiao and Marquez could barely fill half the arena and the money they made barely would pay for one of their luxury cars today. The fight, though, was plenty intriguing, with Pacquiao coming off a win over Marco Antonio Barrera that announced his entry into boxing’s elite, and Marquez having stopped his last 11 opponents.

It seemed a mismatch when Pacquiao knocked down his fellow 125-pounder three times in the first round and Marquez barely survived to hear the bell. But the Mexican champion began a comeback in round 3, dominating the late rounds on his way to a disputed draw that foreshadowed what was to come.

All three fights — Pacquiao won the last two — were so close, they could have gone either way. And had they gone the other way, boxing history may have changed.

Pacquiao might not have gotten the fight with Oscar De La Hoya that catapulted him to stardom in 2008 just nine months after beating Marquez in a split decision in their second fight. Marquez, meanwhile, might have become more than just an opponent getting rich off the names of fighters who will be judged better than him.

“My career maybe changed, and everything would be different,” Marquez said. “But I feel great about what happened in the past with Manny.”

A fourth fight between two world-class fighters is almost unheard of in a day when top fighters rarely enter the ring more than twice a year. Almost as astonishing is that they were spread out over eight years and five weight classes, yet tonight’s fight still will be a pay-per-view event that likely will draw more than 1 million buys from HBO at $59.95.

Pacquiao weighed in at the class limit of 147 pounds yesterday, while Marquez was 143 pounds.

If the old rules of boxing applied, Pacquiao would be fighting a rematch with Bradley for the welterweight title he lost in June in what most watching thought was one of the worst decisions in recent years. But Bradley doesn’t sell pay-per-views and Marquez does, so he’s on the sideline as Pacquiao and the Mexican opponent he knows so well battle for riches instead of a crown.

As is the norm in the sport, the fight needs controversy to sell. This time it’s about Marquez bulking up in ways a 39-year-old normally can’t and the ties his strength coach has to steroid scandals of the past.

Angel Guillermo “Memo” Heredia provided track athletes like Marion Jones and Justin Gatlin with steroids and human growth hormone, only to escape prosecution in the BALCO case by agreeing to testify for the prosecution. He hotly denies using anything with Marquez, claiming his fighter has bulked up naturally.